The Great Unaffordable Dream

In a recent survey of housing markets in Australia, NZ, Ireland, the UK and the USA, it was concluded that “the most pervasive national crisis is in Australia, while the crisis is nearly as serious in Ireland, New Zealand and the UK.” You can find the full report here. The survey compared the medium house price with the medium household income in each region, and found that Sydney was at number 6 in its unaffordability, while Melbourne came in at number 19 and Brisbane at 26.

They’ve also found that Australia has the largest new house size when compared with other nations. However, our land sizes aren’t quite as big as the USA … it’s just that when we get a chunk of land, we like to make our homes as large as possible – around 2.5 times the size of English homes. At the moment new land subdivisions in Australia are being divided up to about 13.3 per hectare. I think the new South East Queensland future housing report recommends 15 lots per hectare, which, when compared with the UK’s 40 lots per hectare, is still pretty good.

To close, I’ll finish with a quote from former prime minister Sir Robert Menzies which is included on the front page of the Demographia report:

“â€¦ one of the best instincts in us is that which induces us to have one little piece of earth with a house and a garden which is ours; to which we can withdraw, in which we can be among our friends, into which no stranger may come against our will.”